Healthy altitude at Lech’s Goldener Berg health resort

“A holiday should be the one time of year when we can take a bit of time for ourselves. Time to recharge our emotional and physical energy, time for our partners, and time to do exactly as we please,” writes Daniela.

Fresh air & beautiful scenary – who cares if you are legless!

And that is the philosophy behind the hotel’s Glückspfad holistic health programme designed to help give your body what it needs. It is all about real relaxation and recuperation while on holiday, but it can also a way of life.

GLYX diet – the road to good health

The combination of eating healthily, de-toxifying and de-acidifying your body in the spa and as much exercise as you want will help you to achieve optimum health and physical fitness – that is the foundation of our new programme.

Our body is the vehicle which carries us through life and through which we perceive and experience the world. We cannot exist with just our mind and soul alone. Only when our body is healthy and functioning well is the mind able to reveal its full potential – and that in turn sets our soul free. In essence, looking after our body is essential for maintaining good general health.

The GLYX Diet

With this in mind, we have put together a complete package which focuses around optimum health health through the healthy GLYX diet

The GLYX diet, invented by Marion Grillparzer, is much more than just a diet – it’s a way of life which is both healthyand enjoyable – with food that tastes good so you are not tempted to ‘yo-yo’. Grillparzer is one of the most famous authors in Germany and her health guides, which have sold over 2 million copies, have been a permanent feature in the bestseller lists.

Goldener Berg Hotel at Oberlech am Arlberg

And in the words of Grillparzar: “For over 30 years now I’ve been interested in the whole idea of ‘eat well, lose weight – and enjoy doing it‘. I have studied nutrition – and people.“ The result – a whole new way of living your life – enjoying food, staying healthy and making the most of each day…very satisfying. The secret? Thirty years of experience in the field of nutrition, a few easy rules, easy-to-make healthy recipes and a good helping of motivation – all combined into a simple traffic-light system. And, of course, exercise and relaxation also have an important part to play. There is no easier, tastier or more enjoyable introduction to a new GLYX way of life than the”de-luxe“ programme offered here in Arlberg.

“Healthy recipes must be simple“, is Marion Grillparzer’s philosophy. She also recommends the mini-trampoline for daily exercise and a series of short relaxation routines, both of which we offer here in Arlberg.

Recommended by doctors, the GLYX diet is anti-inflammatory, helps maintain the health of each individual cell and at the same time trains the metabolism to aid weight loss – without leaving you feeling hungry. So you can enjoy your food whilst your hormones, enzymes and nerve cells achieve the right balance, which in turn makes losing weight easy. Following the GLYX principle helps to regulate glucose levels and thus levels of insulin, the hormone which controls hunger pangs and fat reserves. It uses protein and essential fatty acids to increase thermogenesis, the process by which calories are lost as heat through the skin. A low glycaemic index, healthy fats, plenty of protein, no calorie-counting, no banned foods, all the nutrients you need – this is a weight-loss strategy which is easy to maintain long-term and its effectiveness is backed up by several large-scale medical studies.

Optimum health through detox – quantum healing with Dr. Töth products
Over a period of many years of research and clinical practice in the field of holistic medicine, Dr. Ewald Töth has developed a range of excellent products to help people achieve holistic health and well-being.
Holistic therapies put the emphasis on treating the “whole” person, i.e all aspects of being human: body, mind and soul. Only when these three elements are in perfect harmony can a person be said to be complete and therefore in good health. Symptoms of illness continue to provide us with important information to enable us to establish the real, underlying (psychological) causes of any “health imbalance”, enabling us to learn and to continue to develop our expertise.

Naturopathy describes sickness as a natural detoxifying and cleansing process, designed to neutralise and get rid of both internal and external toxins. Our products work in harmony with this natural process, supporting the body on many levels to detoxify and ‘re-balance’ itself which in turn, of course, helps to strengthen the immune system. It’s important to mention that the best products are designed not only to strengthen the body but also to provide it with energy and, at the same time, give valuable light nourishment to the soul.

Essential to achieving a “healthy life” is a healthy body balance. Illness is generally caused by an acid-alkali imbalance, which is why acid-alkali regulation therapy is central to all orthodox, naturopathic, homeopathic and psychotherapeutic treatments. Our products are proven to have a high alkaline concentration, making them ideal for use as part of regulation therapy anywhere on the body. From a biological point of view the human body is basically alkaline – the water in our cells, our blood and our lymph fluid are all alkaline. A healthy, well-functioning skin also has an alkaline pH of around 7.4, which is why our healthy cosmetic and skincare products as well as our nutritional supplements are based on an alkaline pH.

High quality is important to us when choosing what goes into our products, which is why we try as far as possible to source raw materials from suppliers who are certified organic. There is absolutely no animal testing used in the manufacture of our products.

These are the products used by our experienced Alpine Spa therapists. Proven to be effective in de-acidifying and detoxifying the body.
Optimum health through exercise – personal training.

Regeneration is not just about resting! Holidays are great for relaxing but also for strengthening your body!

So why not use your holiday to get fit and perhaps re-discover the fun of exercise? Even Hollywood stars, for whom money is no object, need physical exercise, though usually with the help of their own personal fitness trainer!

Key aims of the programme:
– to benefit from the effects of exercising at altitude
– to harness the power of nature and awaken and tap into your own “inner” strength.
– gentle exercise aimed at developing muscle strength and tone plus metabolic training.
– to focus on metabolic rate rather than performance

Our personal trainer makes it easy for you to get moving. Start with just a gentle stroll, an easy walk through stunning countryside, or Nordic walking with sticks. You may want to take up jogging, have fun on the trampoline or Galileo – or perhaps a mountainbike tour is more what you have in mind. Whatever activity you choose, our trainer is there to help you get started and, if necessary, show you how to make the activity a bit easier for you.
Have your health checked by a doctor.

Optimum health through deep relaxation in the Alpine Spa
In our Alpine Spa we not only specialise in detox and de-acidification treatments, delivered by experienced therapists using Dr. Töth‘s alkaline and light quantum products, but also offer a range of techniques such as sound therapy, reiki, lomi lomi massage, LaStone therapy and Raindrop therapy using essential oils – all ways of bringing the body to such a deep state of relaxation that even psychological barriers are broken down.

Everything we need to stay healthy is here in abundance – courtesy of Mother Nature.
Our knowledge of the healing effect of certain Alpine plants and natural oils on various health conditions is based on a wealth of experience gathered over hundreds of years combined with modern scientific findings. Almstern products form part of a holistic Alpine wellness programme, developed in close consultation with doctors, wellness experts and the herb-growers of nearby Pitztal.

As Josef Knabel, founder of the “Alpienne” initiative explains: “ In recent years consumers have been almost overwhelmed by the number of wellness treatments coming from the Far East. We therefore thought it was time to re-discover our own roots and use the know-how we have to create a genuine, authentic range of products!“

Basic research
An analysis was carried out with the aim of providing a scientific basis for the effectiveness of alpine medicinal herbs. This was led by Prof. Wolfgang Schobersberger and Georg Hoffmann, lecturer at the Institute for Leisure, Travel and Altitude Medicine at UMIT (the University of Health Informatics and Technology) in Innsbruck. Herr Schobersberger explains: “In many alpine regions there exists a vast amount of knowledge about the effectiveness of natural medicinal herbs but views about their effectiveness and the range of possible applications for which such herbal preparations might be used remains the subject of controversy among experts in this field”.
The following is a list of products used in our Alpine Spa: Almstern honey and pine bath, Almstern propolis milk, Almstern foot cream , Almstern mountain honey oil, Almstern St. John’s Wort after sun lotion, Almstern arnica milk , Almstern St. John’s Wort milk, Almstern marmot body oil, Almstern sun cream, Almstern herbal shampoo, Almstern lip balsam, Almstern honey and swiss pine natural salt peel, Almstern detox wrap, Almstern sport and revitalising wrap, Almstern cleansing salt, Almstern arnica bandage and the Almstern liver wrap.

Optimum health through deep sleep – with the help of tachyon energy and active bed linen
For a really deep, relaxing night’s sleep you can ask for the following energy products for your room:
Tachyon sleep mats
Tachyon energy is the cosmic primal energy from which the universe was created. The idea of cosmic energy exists in all spiritual traditions and was re-discovered in the 20th century by pioneers of holistic physics. This energyis either formless , when it is known as zero-point energy or free energy, or it takes the form of particles, known as tachyons.
The tachyon concept was first used in 1966 by Gerald Feinberg to describe particles of cosmic energy. The word itself is derived from the Greek for “high speed”, an appropriate name given that tachyons move faster than the speed of light.
Tachyons contain all the energy forms needed to re-integrate the body into the natural order of the universe. Harnessing tachyon energy represents a quantum leap into a way of life which brings health and harmony both for the individual and for the whole planet.
Try to imagine yourself stretching your body, relaxing and meditating in a life-enhancing tachyon field. Tachyon energy is known to accelerate the body’s natural healing and detoxification processes and now you too can experience this process of rejuvenation while you sleep – on a tachionised mat. The mat is made of tachionised Aero fibres wrapped in luxury cotton. Both this mat and the tachyon belt are among the most effective, high-quality tachyon products in the world.Hefel wellness Swiss pine
Harness the power of Swiss pine for a really relaxing night’s sleep.
The wellness Swiss pine quilt is filled with finest pure new wool and high quality pine wood flakes. The positive properties of this wood are scientifically proven: pine wood reduces the heart rate during sleep and strengthens the cardiovascular system.

Optimum health through fresh air
Mountain air is good for us. Because oxygen is heavy there is more of it at lower altitudes than up in the mountains. The higher you climb, the less oxygen there is in the air – the air is said to be “thinner”.
Air pressure, necessary for the absorption of oxygen into the blood, is also lower at altitude.

In the mountains the body has to work harder to get the oxygen it needs. It therefore adapts by producing many more red blood cells than normal.
And the more blood cells the body has, carrying oxygen to the muscles, the stronger those muscles will be and the better they will perform. That is why top athletes so often train at altitudes of between 1,500 and 2,000 metres.

Optimum health through the power of water
Water is our most precious resource! Our bodies are made up of around 70% water and several thousand litres of the stuff flow through us every day, equivalent to around 20 bath-tubs full. Only by providing our body with sufficient clean, healthy water can it function at its best.

That is why it is so important to drink plenty of healthy water – 2-3 litres daily. Clean, healthy water helps to flush acid deposits, waste products and toxins out of the body and therefore fulfils a vital role both in terms of cleansing and transporting nutrients.

Did you know that the body’s network of fine blood vessels does not extend to every single cell and that therefore we rely on water to transport valuable nutrients to their destination?

Without sufficient water consumption, our cells do not get the oxygen and nutrients they need and toxins and acids are not flushed out of the body, leading to a build-up of harmful waste products in the cells.
The benefit of drinking clean, healthy water is therefore LESS about what it contains(e.g. minerals), and more to do with transporting nutrients from our food to our cells, cleansing our body and removing toxins from our kidneys, gut, skin and lungs.

The water from your tap is of the highest quality. It has been tested and proved to be purer and richer in minerals than most mineral waters that you can buy. So – drink as much as you like!! What’s more, high oscillation levels in and around the hotel mean that the water that comes out of your tap is “yours”. Before you turn on the tap, make sure you have asked for Lech water – only the very best for you!

Optimum health at medium-altitude
It is no coincidence that the idea of taking a holiday to relax and recuperate originated here in Lech am Arlberg. An important factor is its location at medium altitude (1,500 – 2,500 metres). The research project AMAS 2000 (Austrian Moderate Altitude Study) was the first to provide scientific evidence for the notion that a carefully-structured, individually-tailored active holiday in the mountains can have a significant restorative effect on health.

So much for the science – our main concern is to give you the holiday which includes plenty of exercise, relaxation, fun and a wealth of unforgettable experiences. And, what’s even better, a holiday which will leave you still feeling refreshed and rejuvenated long after you have returned home.

The AMAS study showed that those holidaying at medium altitude reported:
– a significant reduction in raised blood pressure
– improved fat and sugar metabolism
– weight loss of 2-3 kg
– improved transport of oxygen through the red blood cells
– a marked stabilisation of neuropsychological performance (e.g. positive outlook, sleep quality)
Our body adapts to the conditions in which we live. When we move to altitudes up to around 2,500 metres (defined as “medium-altitude”) there is less oxygen in the air, i.e. the air becomes “thinner”. The body adapts to this slight oxygen deficiency by vegetative and hormonal changes in 2 phases. These manifest themselves initially as tiredness and an increased desire for sleep. Then, after a few days, the body adjusts and we start to feel better and more balanced.

First, the body experiences oxygen deficiency as an unspecific stress and more energy is consumed. Gradually the respiratory rate is increased both at rest and under stress, the heart beats faster, the muscles tense and the metabolism is stimulated. During this phase the body’s performance is reduced by around 5%.

Now follows the second phase, in which the body calms and breathing and the cardiovascular system begin to adjust. At this point something important happens. Reduced oxygen in the inhaled air stimulates the production of red blood cells, particularly at medium altitudes. This process, caused by the hormone erythropoetin, causes old blood cells to be eliminated and replaced by new, young blood cells.

The result? You feel totally rejuvenated! The new cells are better able to supply the body’s tissues with oxygen, circulation improves and with it your physical performance. You feel fresh, revitalised and more relaxed. Where else could you find benefits like these but up here in the mountains?

Exercising at altitude improves stamina and fitness. The positive effects of the bracing mountain climate can be increased still further by physical activity. Top athletes have long exploited this effect with what has become known as “altitude training” for which you need just a moderate oxygen deficiency of around 10-15%, as found at “medium altitudes”.

Optimum health through good energy – high oscillation

Everything on this planet depends on one thing – energy – which is why the subject has been so important to us here at the Goldener Berg for so many years!
All rooms in the Goldener Berg, Alter Goldener Berg and the chalet are fitted with special energy chips to neutralise any interferences, such as electrical smog, earth radiation and psychic smog which might accumulate there.

What’s more, our energy expert Leo Hermann has been working all year on oscillation which is particularly high in and around the Goldener Berg. Whilst the average in Austria is 5,000 bowies, here on our mountain we register 10,000 to 12,000 bowies. In other words, oscillation is higher, you have more space, everything seems easier, you sleep better and deeper and you can effectively ‘de-clutter’ your mind.

I hope I have convinced you with my passion and look forward to welcoming you at the Goldener Berg” – Daniella.

The Basic GLYX package which includes breakfast, lunch and dinner; your room, use of the Alpine spa and various treatments including a detox massage starts at €1295 and is available from June until 6 October 2013.